Madam Secretary: Season 1

Elizabeth McCord (Téa Leoni), formerly with the CIA and currently a college professor, is not allowed to give “no” for an answer when her former mentor, now the President of the United States (Keith Carradine), taps her to be his new Secretary of State after the former office holder dies in a plane crash. “You don't think outside the box,” he tells her. “You don't even know there is a box.” During this auspicious first season, McCord must juggle global politics with White House office politics, not to mention those within her own family, which includes a husband (Tim Daly) and two children who feel neglected. The fine ensemble includes Bebe Neuwirth as McCord's chief of staff (who does not care for her new boss), and Zeljko Ivanek as the president's chief of staff, a career bureaucrat who resents McCord and is bent on undermining her. In addition to world crises—including two kidnapped American brothers who face execution in Syria—the show also layers in a conspiracy subplot involving the former Secretary of State's death. Was it an accident or murder? A colleague, who tells McCord that it's the latter, winds up dead. A worthy showcase for the criminally underutilized Leoni, Madam Secretary is a smart and witty show that feels like it takes place in the real (or at least recognizable) world. Compiling all 22 episodes from the 2014-15 debut season, extras include audio commentaries, a “making-of” featurette, a cast and crew Q&A panel discussion, and deleted scenes. Recommended. (D. Liebenson)